Does anyone have a transcript of Tolkien's letter to Patricia Kirke 28 March 1956. It was sold by Gerard A.J. Stodolski, Catalogue #299, 1999, item 29.

This is to help Michaël Devaux who is doing research. I must have it, alas most of my Tolkien material is in a depot... hope to have all back with me in September when I finally move into my new house.

No need to reproduce it here (please send me an email - contact@tolkienlibrary.com). Michaël always takes care of all copyright issues involved. So no need to worry. Just not paste it here in the board.

Beren wrote:Correct... but the author (Michaël Devaux) has been green lit to do so... only thing is we don't find the transcript. No one here can help?

Then surely the author (Michaël Devaux) would be responsible for finding a letter he has been given written permission to publish or quote from?

Your request here is like me saying a friend has permission to publish a letter so it is OK to pass it to me in the process. I am quite certain that is not the case.

On this subject I have a general question about these matters. If a letter is in the possession of the receiver then how can the Estate give another person permission to publish a letter they do not have in their possession? Surely the letter is owned by the receiver and therefore they would also have to give permission for anything to be published?

If you knew the work Michael Devaux is doing you would probably follow me... in this case perhaps some extra info is needed. He is doing research on a certain topic, we 'know' what is written in the letter on this subject (but because he is a scholar he wants to double check all info - so desires to see the content of the letter). He is in constant communication with the estate about what he can or cannot publish. So in fact he is not planning to 'reproduce' the letter here, he is just double checking material (and has an ok to publish the findings). Hope this clarifies my request a little. I'm sorry I was so unclear. Furthermore, I'm throwing it here in this form as I suspect collectors might have seen the auction, have a transcript... and it is always nice to help a fellow Tolkien friend!

Michaël Devaux is probably responsible to release more unpublished material then any other Tolkien scholar out there (in French). He is a very fine scholar and I always look forward to his next publications. Alas, for the English speaking community he remains a bit unknown. As does his work. Anyways, all help is welcome :)

As for your other question. Anything Tolkien has written falls under the copyright of the Estate. The receiver may 'own' the letter, he does however not own the copyright on the written words inside the letter.

I have not seen the letter (or the dealer catalog), sorry. I would assume, as the original source quoted in the Companion and Guide is from the Gerard A.J. Stodolski Catalogue 299, that the letter itself is not reproduced in the catalog, just some quotes that have perpetuated from W&C's work into websites and other references.

I assume you or Michaël have already reached out to Findegil via email?

From my perspective, I would guess that the only people who have seen the entire letter are Patricia Kirke (and/or her estate), the dealers at Stodolski, and the buyer.

thanks! yes Michaël contacted Findegil :) If anyone knows it must be there... I made a transcript back then, however it is somewhere on a (now long dead) computer. Should try and get a harddisk restore done.JLong my have a transcript as well... now I come to think about it.